Career Services Office held the annual Health Sciences Fair on Thursday, October 29, 2015. Nineteen employers were on campus to speak with potential health science’s candidates. Employers included Care New England, Lifespan, Southcoast Health and Newton Wellesley Hospital. CharterCare Health Partners established a pipeline of candidates with the students they met. First-time exhibitors were very impressed with the facility as well as the professionalism of the students.

The Crown Plaza in Warwick, RI, was the venue for the 2015 Technical Advisory Committee Appreciation Dinner held on November 12th. This annual gathering is hosted by the Office of Teaching and Learning and offers faculty and staff the opportunity to meet with their respective technical advisors. The advisors are dedicated technical experts who offer their time and expertise to keep the college abreast of industry changes so that all NEIT programs incorporate the latest skills sought by today’s employers.

This year’s guest speaker was Wade Gibson, Chief of Staff, of the Executive Office of the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation. Known as CommerceRI, this full-service agency is the official economic development organization for the state of Rhode Island and serves as a government and community resource to help streamline the business expansion in, and relocation to, Rhode Island. Mr. Gibson shared his insights regarding the various marketing and incentive programs that CommerceRI is promoting to attract new businesses to the State. He spoke about the “Waymaker Fellowship” program where students may be reimbursed a portion of their college expenses to make it more attractive for them to work in Rhode Island after graduation. He commended New England Tech for the active role it plays in training students to meet the demands of today’s competitive workplace.

New England Tech’s Career Services Office has seen similar trends for New England Tech graduates. Recently, Career Services received an email from a local engineering firm seeking Field Service Engineers for Industrial Automation Controls stating that “We need to hire 5 Field Service Engineers over the next year. THREE by January of 2016.” This is very exciting news for students and graduates in our Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering Technology as well as for those who are considering career opportunities in the engineering fields.

The job market for college graduates is in for a third straight year of “explosive” growth, according to the largest annual survey of U.S. employers. Michigan State University’s Recruiting Trends report projects a 15 percent jump in hiring across all degree levels, driven primarily by growing companies and employee turnover. “Most signs point to another explosive year of growth in the job market for college graduates,” said Phil Gardner, director of the collegiate employment research institute and lead author of the nationwide survey of 4,700 employers. “Even if the economic headwinds strengthen, the college job market should withstand a bump in the road.”

Starting salaries are more of a mixed bag, though. They should grow between 2 and 5 percent over all, and some fields, like engineering and information technology, are likely to see even bigger hikes. But others may see starting salaries drop or lag behind inflation, and most employers, 61 percent, say they will not change them at all this year.

If you would like additional information about any of New England Tech’s over 50 Associate, Bachelor’s, Master’s and online degree programs, including Electrical Engineering Technology.

On Wednesday, September 2nd the Career Services Office will be offering Open Lab Resume Workshops to all currently enrolled students. Two sessions will be offered, from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm and 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm. They will be held on the East Greenwich campus in room S214. The workshops will focus on resumes, cover letters, and reference sheets and is open to students from all technologies.

The Rhode Show showcases how New England Tech Automotive Associate degree graduate Anthony Bodine’sProTech Automotive Services. ProTech is not your average Automotive Service shop. Bodine is proud to help customers solve sometimes the most complicated auto problems. As cars continue to get more and more sophisticated when something goes wrong it isn’t always clear what the cause of problem actually is. At ProTech, the technicians are trained to diagnose the problem based on your vehicles symptoms and are able to make appropriate repairs.

New England Tech is also proud of the success Anthony has had at ProTech but also that Anthony comes to New England Tech Career Services when he has positions available at ProTech because he knows first hand the quality education our students receive.

Congratulations to two additional upcoming grads that have been accepted into the BMW Step Program: Rashard Jean-Michel and Bryan Coehlo. Both will begin training this summer along with five other NEIT grads who have already been accepted. This brings the total number of NEIT grads accepted into the exclusive BMW Step Program to seven since 2014.

The other grads accepted into the program are: Brendan Hadfield, Jack Stonely, Ryan Wells, Andrew Gendler, & David Salvati.

Tom Gilbride, an automation and robotic technician, teaches and aligns a robot at the Yushin plant in Cranston. Governor Raimondo last month spotlighted the company as an example of advanced manufacturing — the high-tech, high-end descendant of the manufacturing that sustained Rhode Island for centuries before yielding to overseas competition. The Providence Journal/Mary Murphy

Nicholas Salcedo, a robotics technician at Yushin, an advanced manufacturer in Cranston, gets a robotic arm ready to run specified actions before it is shipped to a company in Texas to be integrated into that company’s automation. The Providence Journal/Mary Murphy

Rhode Islanders may do a double-take when they hear Governor Raimondo talk about manufacturing as a key to reviving the economy and creating jobs.

After all, isn’t manufacturing all about the past? Doesn’t she see all those closed brick factories? Didn’t manufacturing jobs peak in the 1940s, and haven’t they been sliding ever since?

But Raimondo is talking about a different type of manufacturing, called advanced manufacturing, that produces precise, engineered-to-order, high-end products for the medical-device, defense, aerospace and other industries.

This manufacturing is all about the future, and it pays middle-income wages.

But she pointed out they are not the low-skill manufacturing jobs of the past, but newer, advanced manufacturing jobs that require highly trained workers. Rhode Island should be primed to take advantage.

“We need the skills to fill the jobs that are our opportunity,” she said.

After Raimondo visited the Yushin America facility in Cranston last month to outline her plan to create jobs and revamp the state’s workforce training system, I talked with Michael Greenhalgh, operations director at Yushin.

He said Yushin, a unit of Yushin Precision Equipment Co. Ltd. of Japan, is completing a $2-million expansion and wants to hire 14 more workers. Some would be at a starting pay of $12 to $13 an hour. Others would be paid about $50,000 a year.

But, Greenhalgh can’t find workers with the skills he needs.

But the real answer is more qualified candidates coming out of the vocational and technical schools or colleges, or better training of workers who are in transition from declining industries.

It’s a good idea, but I don’t think Rhode Island can wait years for a regional solution.

State leaders should already be working to figure out how to close the skills gap.

The state has fallen behind its neighbors in advanced manufacturing. But with the right focus and commitment, there’s no reason it can’t catch up and overtake its competitors.

Manufacturing, an old industry that’s retooling for the future, deserves a solid second look.